Commerce, payments and ticketing
How much does it cost to build an app like Shopify?
By Nick McCandless, founder of EltherionUpdated
Short answer
Eltherion prices an MVP of an app like Shopify, an online store builder where many merchants each run their own store, at $46k to $125k. A full platform with the features listed below runs $80k to $216k. These are Eltherion's own estimate ranges for building a comparable product, not what Shopify spent; your fixed price comes after a free scoping call, and small, tightly scoped work starts as low as $1,000.
An app like Shopify is a platform, not a store: merchants sign up, build their own storefronts, add products and take orders, while the platform handles hosting, checkout and billing for all of them. If you only need one store, you do not need to build this.
What an MVP of an app like Shopify costs, feature by feature
The first version below is the smallest product people could actually use. Core features are covered by the base price for a SaaS product; each outside service the app connects to, and each add-on, adds its own line.
| Line item | What it covers | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Core SaaS product (MVP) | Merchant admin, Storefront themes, Cart and checkout | $35k to $95k |
| Separate stores per merchant | Each merchant's data, domain and settings kept apart | $5k to $15k |
| Payments | Card payments through a payment platform | $2k to $5k |
| Subscription billing | Charge merchants a monthly plan | $2k to $5k |
| Email notifications | Order and shipping emails | $2k to $5k |
| Total | $46k to $125k |
- Merchant admin: Products, inventory, orders, customers and settings.
- Storefront themes: A customizable store each merchant can publish.
- Cart and checkout: Shipping options, taxes and order confirmation.
What drives the cost of an app like Shopify
- Serving many merchants from one platform is what makes this a SaaS build, not a store.
- Checkout, taxes and shipping are detailed work with many edge cases.
- Theme customization and an app ecosystem are long-term platform investments.
Full platform: $80k to $216k
The full-platform tier prices the same app at full-platform scope ($63k to $171k for the core) plus these additions:
- App and theme ecosystem: Let third parties extend stores (part of the full-platform core).
- Shipping rates and labels: Carrier rates and label printing ($2k to $5k).
- Sales tax calculation: Tax rates through a tax service ($2k to $5k).
- Custom domains and SSL: Merchant domains through a domain and certificate service ($2k to $5k).
Most products should not build this tier up front. Ship the MVP, see what users actually do, and add the pieces that earn their place. Open the full-platform estimate in the calculator.
Running costs after launch
- Maintenance and small improvements: $8k to $23k a year for the MVP (18% of the build, a planning assumption).
- Hosting: about $7k a year (a planning estimate; heavy usage costs more).
- Three-year total for the MVP, build included: $92k to $214k.
- Card payments: Stripe's standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction (checked October 30, 2026); other providers price differently.
Each integration also has its provider's own usage fees (maps, messaging, video, AI models), which depend on how much the app is used.
Get this estimate, or a fixed quote
Email yourself this MVP estimate, or book a call and we will turn it into a fixed price for your version of the idea.
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Frequently asked questions
- How much does it cost to build an app like Shopify?
- Eltherion prices an MVP of an app like Shopify, an online store builder where many merchants each run their own store, at $46k to $125k, and a full platform at $80k to $216k. These are Eltherion's estimate ranges from its published pricing model; your fixed price comes after a free scoping call. Small, tightly scoped work starts as low as $1,000.
- I need one online store. Should I build it custom?
- Usually not. For one store, Shopify or a similar platform is cheaper and faster. Build custom pieces when your ordering, pricing or customer portal needs something the platform can't do, often as an app on top of an existing store.
- When does building a store platform make sense?
- When you want to sell store software to many merchants in a niche the big platforms serve poorly, such as a specific industry with unusual ordering rules. That is a SaaS business, and the estimate here prices its first version.
- Is this what Shopify spent to build its app?
- No. It is Eltherion's estimate for building a comparable first version today. It says nothing about what Shopify spent, and Eltherion is not affiliated with Shopify. A product at that company's scale has years of work and teams behind it that no MVP includes.
- How can I lower the cost?
- Launch with fewer integrations, one market and one platform, and leave the full-platform features until users ask for them. The adjustable calculator shows how each choice moves the range.
How we priced this
Every number on this page comes from Eltherion's software development cost calculator: a base range for the product type, multiplied by scope, plus a fixed range for each integration and add-on. The method is published on the cost methodology page. The feature list describes a typical comparable product; Eltherion is not affiliated with Shopify.